Influenza came to Ukraine earlier and became more aggressive: what is known about the A (H3N2) virus
25 December 12:14
EXCLUSIVE
The flu is back again – but this time not according to the usual scenario. What looked like localized reports from China in the fall has now become a reality for Europe and Ukraine. The influenza A (H3N2) virus, which has been circulating globally for many years, has undergone major changes: at least seven new mutations, particularly in the hemagglutinin region, a key area that affects the infectivity and course of the disease. That is why the current flu season started earlier than expected and is developing more aggressively.
This was stated by epidemiologist Natalia Vinograd in a commentary to "Komersant Ukrainian".
“There is an influenza A (H3N2) virus all over the world. It has been going around for a long time. It was reported back in October from China. They just didn’t mention then that there are seven new mutations. The virus has been seriously changed, and the mutations are in hemoglobulin, which is a very important area,” she said.
According to Natalia Vinograd, this wave hit Europe a month and a half ago, and Ukraine naturally found itself in the same risk zone. Instead of the traditional peak in mid-January, the virus came almost a month earlier, spreading rapidly among the population. In some countries, such as the UK, the number of hospitalizations is increasing every week, and the share of severe cases reaches more than half of all infected people.
“This problem hit Europe a month and a half ago. We are also involved in it. And it will be natural, as always with the flu, that it will be everywhere. The only peculiarity is that it started faster in our territories. It was supposed to start in mid-January, but it came a month earlier… In England, the weekly increase in new cases, hospitalized, is up to half, let’s say 55%,” the expert noted.
As Natalia Vinograd emphasized, the peculiarity of this season is the change in the “portrait” of the patient. While older people usually suffer the most, children and middle-aged people are now more likely to get sick. At the same time, complications remain classic for influenza, but no less dangerous: pneumonia, exacerbation of chronic diseases, and damage to the body’s weaknesses.
“Complications are typical for influenza. Flu is always very manifest for medical risk groups. These are people of the older age group, although this time they are less sick, children and middle-aged people are more sick.
And the complications, pneumonia, is one of the most severe and serious. And all the rest, wherever there is a weakness, there will be an exacerbation, and then some health problems will arise,” the epidemiologist summarized.
As a reminder, in the 50th week of 2025,10,238 new cases of influenza and ARVI, including COVID-19, wererecorded in Kyiv.
